KUCHING, Oct 11: A search and rescue (SAR) operation has been mounted to locate a missing man who is feared to have drowned in a river after he was believed to have fallen from a ship at a concrete plant in Maludam.
In a statement from a spokesperson from the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) operations centre today, a call was received at 9.47pm on Monday (Oct 10) regarding the incident, which involved 21-year-old Indian national Atul Couhairi.
“At 9.15pm (on Oct 10), the man was about to loosen the ship’s rope when he fell from the ship, which hit the dock piling used to fasten the ship’s rope around.
“His friend tried to rescue him, but the river current was too strong,” said the spokesperson.
At 7.12am today, officers were despatched to the site to conduct the SAR operation, where the SAR team was given a briefing at 10am.
The SAR operation started at 10.12am within a radius of 2km upstream and downstream from where the man was believed to have fallen; the operation was then put on pause at 12.26pm.
Later at 2.20pm, the SAR operation resumed 5km upstream and was adjourned at 5pm due to the weather.
The missing man was not found, and the SAR operation will resume tomorrow (Oct 12).
The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) and Malaysia Civil Defence Force (APM) were also involved in the SAR operation. — DayakDaily
